May The Force Still Be With You, Madam

 

It is very unfortunate that this lady, whose popularity is anchored on her quite famous surname – thanks to her late husband, is no longer a force to be reckoned with. She is the face of the opposition (and puppet if I may add) since day one in office of the incumbent President. However, with the recent pronouncements made by the likes of Ping, Manny and Isko as to their ambition to occupy the highest position in the land, she is slowly being relegated to the background, most especially because she cannot put the right screws on her mind on whether she will run or not.

The lady is still adamant with her plan to unite the opposition and come up with just one candidate for the presidency. Sadly, her talks with Ping fizzled out. Next in line are Manny and Isko. Will she be successful this time? It remains to be seen. But from the looks of it, the two gentlemen are hell-bent as far as their political ambition is concerned, and no one or nobody can put barriers along their path.

For six years, this woman simply put to waste the privilege given her to serve the country. She and her camp are more preoccupied in criticizing the government - six years of pamumulitika. Her role was reduced to merely being the mouthpiece of  her party mates. Every time she opens her mouth, expect one criticism or two, as if she is an outsider or a spectator, and not part of the government.

This woman could have done more for those in the laylayan, had she aligned herself with the government and its efforts. After all, her position or office is an integral part of the government. And such alignment will not necessarily entail her to abandon her party and its beliefs. I believe that one can still work hand in hand with the administration without losing political party affiliation.

Perhaps, she has overlooked the idea that she works for the people, and not for her party mates and their collective ambitions. For six years she has distanced herself from the government, and has projected herself to be the “better one”, in the eyes at least of her spokesperson and party mates.

Being the face of the opposition gave her the burden of uniting all opposition forces. Adding to her woes is a three-letter word that is just around the corner – BBM. Many things can still happen, though, between now and the last day of filing for candidacy.

Hence, may the force still be with you, Madam.

FINALLY, AT LEAST FOR NOW

When I opened my Facebook yesterday morning, some people were thanking VP Leni Robredo for the activities her office has been doing in relation to this health crisis our country is currently experiencing.  This has caught my special attention, which led me to jump to Google in order to have concrete knowledge as to what her office is up to.

DIVINE THOUGHTS

The secret wedding of Sarah Geronimo and Mateo Guidicelli eclipsed a bit the usual headlines that we have been seeing and hearing. What was supposed to be a happy affair, turned out to be a not so happy one.

Fans are happy for the newlyweds. But Sarah’s mother isn’t.

DROPPING THE BOMB (AND WHY THE DDS ARE JUBILANT)

Salvador Panelo’s guesting on ANC Channel’s Headstart anchored by Karen Davila has become a hot topic, and a video of the interview is viral now in social media.

For one, the meeting of two personalities coming from opposing camps was a spectacle in itself – the flamboyant spokesperson of PRRD in the person of Salvador Panelo, and the feisty journalist of the embattled ABS-CBN in the person of Karen Davila.

THE HUNGRY SYRIAN WANDERER: Vlogging With a Heart

From the Hungry Syrian Wanderer Facebook

A lot of people, from celebrities to ordinary people, are into vlogging. And as of late, I am thinking about vlogging as well since obviously this is the “in” thing in this era of social media frenzy and wifi technology. However, my time and resources are not that ripe yet for me to venture into this new online phenomenon.

S U R E X C I T E R

SUREXCITER is a French word which means overacting. And this is how I describe the highly celebrated issue of parent Rosemil Edroso vs. teacher Melinda Limjuco.   

The teacher overacted in throwing the kid out of the classroom for the simple reason that the latter forgot to bring his report card. Yes, she did provide a chair for her student, but this does not in any way lessen the gravity of the punishment. The teacher could have simply reminded the kid to bring his report card the next meeting, as simple as that. No need for such over the top sanction. And the worst part, it was caught by a cctv camera.

YES or NO?

photo by philstar.com

Leni Robredo and her camp must be so mentally stressed nowadays.

First, Robredo was heavily criticized for her baseless and sweeping conclusion that the government’s war on drugs had been a failure. Second, the Robredo camp is not sure if Leni was able to convince the public of her retraction of her earlier statement. And finally, Robredo and her gang cannot make up their mind if Leni should accept or refuse the President’s offer to let her takeover the government’s war on drugs.

You Cannot Be Serious Mr. President

photo by tnt.abante.com.ph

                                                            

Ms. Leni Robredo grabbed the headlines once more with her usual offhand remarks about the government. But her recent remarks were something that did not sit well with President Duterte, for such remarks that were unceremoniously and frostily uttered by her attacked fearlessly a core mandate of the President no less – the war on drugs.

In Pursuit of Happy Homes: Elle Uy

picture courtesy of Elle Uy Decor Facebook

Elle Uy - the name is easy to recall due to its monosyllabic theme. And the name “Elle” sounds very sophisticated, is it not?

Is she a supermodel? An actress? A fashion designer perhaps?

None of the above. Elle Uy is a home decorator.

The ISKO MORENO Strategy

Newly elected Manila “Yorme” Isko Moreno is all over social media. 

With his Dutertesque style of doing things, he is catching the attention of many political watchers. A former actor, Moreno started his political career way back in 1998 as councilor of Manila’s first congressional district. After serving three terms as councilor, he eventually became Vice Mayor of Manila in 2007. And now 2019, he is the 27^th mayor of Manila, beating reelectionist and former President Joseph Estrada.

A LOWLY CHALLENGE

Amidst allegations of having numerous local and offshore bank accounts, Senator Sonny Trillanes boldly declared his willingness to sign a bank secrecy waiver that will give access to his alleged bank accounts, to prove his earlier refutations of their existence.

Consequentially, he dared his accuser President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to do the same with reference to the Senator’s allegation of the latter’s purported P2.4 billion bank account.

To John Lloyd Cruz: INGAT!

Social media are ablaze with recent videos of John Lloyd Cruz in various states of drunkenness.

Those were supposed to be private moments of him with his friends. Those were supposed to be for their exclusive consumption only. Sadly though, for one reason or another, such videos found their way online.

And people are lapping them up with gusto.

Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte: Love Her or Hate Her?

During the rainy season, students, parents and school administrators are always on their toes on the lookout for possible class suspensions either the night before or early morning. The plot thickens when one by one, local governments start to make announcements that they are suspending classes in their respective areas.

Last Thursday though (7.27.17), students studying in Quezon City as well as their parents did not like the storyline when Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, amidst the inclement weather and class suspensions in other cities, decided not to follow suit. In other words, no suspension of classes.

A Basic Question for Senator Leila de Lima

As of this writing, Philippine Senate’s feistiest member by the name of Leila de Lima is already at the PNP Custodial Center due to her alleged involvement in the proliferation of drugs at the New Bilibid Prison during her time as Justice Secretary.

You Don't Love Your Filipino Fans Mr. James Taylor

This one will be a brief article, and so I will go straight to the point: James Taylor does not love his Filipino fans.

I was watching the news last night and chanced upon something about the American singer – he has cancelled his upcoming concert here in Manila over cases of alleged extrajudicial killings arising from the government’s war against drugs.

LENI AND BONGBONG : Pinagtagpo ng Tadhana

The recent electoral race for the second highest position in the land – the Vice Presidency, became a highly contested one between Leni Robredo and Bongbong Marcos (as if they were the only two who ran).

AGOT ISIDRO vs. PRRD: Four Lessons Learned

I will not make a long introduction for this blog article of mine. Here are four lessons I learned from Agot Isidro's post:

First, the singer-actress’ “psychopath” labeling of PRRD will travel down in history as one of the most blatant and scathing remarks that had ever been told about a Philippine president, if not the most. Her remark came out of nowhere to the surprise of Malacañang and its supporters, but to the delight of those who belong to the other side.

DUTERTE AND HITLER: A Case of Weak Analogy

Whoever compared President Duterte to German dictator Adolf Hitler must be given a refresher course in Logic.

Personally speaking, I was appalled when such comparison was made, for the reason that it was akin to comparing apples to oranges. The only identicalness that I can deduce pertains to the killings committed in their respective regimes.

Who is Rocky Ignacio?

Just who is Rocky Ignacio?

The name figured prominently during one of President Duterte’s press conferences prior to his inauguration (the one where Mariz Umali was catcalled by Digong no less).

FOR THE SPIRIT OF FAIRNESS

For the spirit of fairness after having expressed my thoughts through an earlier article pertaining to the not so pleasant encounter between Rodrigo Duterte and a UP Los Baños student in the person of Stephen Villena, I am posting here the latter’s official statement regarding the incident.